Reading for Bigger Biceps

Reading-wise, I have three books on the go at the moment and the one with which I’m making the slowest progress is Yuri Slezkine’s The House of Government. Not because it isn’t a gripping read, but because it’s too damned heavy to read in bed or on the train –  980 pages (excluding appendices) too heavy. I…

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On Blessings

The English language is a rich and wonderful thing. Those of us who have it as our mother tongue hardly know how lucky we are. The Italians, for instance, have to use the same word for a niece, a nephew or a grandchild. I mean, really? There’s just one area of English where it seems…

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Working Speed

In athletic terms a novelist needs to be a marathon runner. I have known novelists who could produce a first draft in less than two months but they’ve tended to be men enjoying 5 star domestic support. No school or supermarket run for them. No plumber to hang around for. I’m definitely a distance runner …

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Bits and Pieces

One or two of you noticed that my website was down over Christmas and thought I had perhaps grown tired of life. Thank you for your concern, but nothing so dramatic. My domain name (search me) apparently lapsed on Christmas Eve without a murmur of warning and I was on the road, unable to do…

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